State Hatches Plan To Keep Parks' Goose Population Down

Plan Hatched To Control Geese

No matter what he did, the hundreds of Canada geese that had overrun the popular Sherwood Island State Park kept coming back. Year after year, their droppings fouled the beach and picnic groves.

That is why one day last week Dochtermann, the park manager, and Paul C. O'Connell, a state Department of Environmental Protection park and forest supervisor, could be found stalking the deep grass and reeds at the edges of the park, searching for goose nests.

Their agency had applied for and received a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to "addle" goose eggs -- shake them until they are lifeless -- as a way to slowly reduce the goose population in the park.

At Sherwood Island, which can draw as many as 30,000 people on a hot summer day, there have been repeated incidents involving Canada geese -- the familiar bird that flies in V-formation flocks. A girl broke her ankle last year when she slipped on goose manure while playing softball. A man broke his ankle after he slipped on the manure while playing volleyball. And a motorcyclist suffered severe cuts and bruises when he veered to avoid a flock of geese that blocked the park entrance road.

On Thursday, over by the Mill Pond outlet, on the back side of the beach, Dochtermann and O'Connell found a nest, the mother goose atop eight eggs.

As the goose hissed and flapped her wings, Dochtermann grabbed and held her firmly while O'Connell lifted each egg and shook it for a few moments.

The idea was to leave the eggs appearing as if they were unharmed, but lifeless nonetheless. If the female goose knew the eggs would not hatch, she would soon lay another clutch of eggs and defeat the purpose of the effort.

"We're just fooling them," Dochtermann said.

After she was released, the female flew off, honking to her mate, who met her in the Mill Pond. When Dochtermann and O'Connell

left the nest area, she returned to the nest and sat again atop the eggs. The male watched a group of strangers from a short distance away.

"It's not my preference on how to do it," Dochtermann said. "I would prefer to see them controlled through nature and hunting."

But in many parts of the Northeast hunting is increasingly difficult or unacceptable because of the dense populations of people nearby. And, in places like Sherwood Island, natural predators such as foxes appear scarce, Dochtermann said.

The goose addling project, which is similar to a program the department wants to begin for mute swans, is opposed by animal rights activists, such as Friends of Animals, a national, Norwalk-based group.

"We think it is molesting a nest," said Dot Hayes, public affairs director for the group. "Canada geese mate for life. We think the DEP should let nature take its course, and the DEP should have something better to do with its time."

Friends of Animals has battled the DEP over the swan addling proposal, for which the department is seeking General Assembly approval. A bill to allow swan addling was approved by the House and sent to the Senate.

The goose addling program, however, requires a federal permit because Canada geese fall under federal migratory bird laws. New Canaan, in Fairfield County, also was given a federal permit to addle goose eggs.

One of the reasons the geese have become troublesome is habitat. What they like is water and grass -- and Fairfield County, where there are many large estates with small ponds, is ideal. Concentrations of geese are highest in Fairfield County, according to Paul Merola, a DEP wildlife biologist.

Another reason for goose problems is that people often feed them in parks and around homes. "They are reasonably intelligent animals, and they will come back, and back and back," said Spence Conley, a public affairs officer with the wildlife service.

The problem geese also aren't truly native geese. They have been traced back to a race of Canada geese native to the Midwest. Those geese were imported in the late 19th century to be used as live decoys for hunters pursuing the races of Canada geese that follow flyways in the eastern United States.

When live decoys were outlawed decades ago, the Midwest geese were released and became established in the East -- but, unlike the native geese of the East, these birds, slightly larger, do not migrate.

At Sherwood Island State Park, as many as 1,000 birds may congregate, and there are probably at least 400 or 500 at any time, Dochtermann said.

Among other steps, the DEP has extended the goose hunting season into the winter, in hopes that hunters will kill more of the non-migratory geese. The department estimates there are approximately 10,000 to 12,000 geese in the state each spring, before they nest.

The DEP advises private property owners on ways to discourage

the geese. For those with a nicely mowed lawn next to a pond, the department suggests installing a 3-foot high fence between the water and the grass.

George H. Haas, migratory bird coordinator with the wildlife service, says another suggestion is for property owners to stop mowing parts of their lawn. At Sherwood Island, some areas where the geese congregated are not mowed now.

Another option is for property owners to reduce the size of their lawns. But, Haas said, "That is the point at which people don't want to hear any more.